diy maternity belly belt (tutorial)

 Okay so maternity jeans have been sucking for me lately.  they fall down all the time and have been driving me crazy so I have been really contimplating the belly belt it looks like this...

It essentially has a elastic band with a button and button hole on it.  then a piece of cloth to tuck into your gap in your jeans so it looks like this..

It gives your jeans more stretch while keeping them up and covering the gap where they are still split.  Well these run about 20$-30$ for something that gets pretty mixed reviews and I just had a feeling I could do this myself.  So I set out to try and it was WAY easier then I thought it would be and in the end it cost me less then 4$ for materials enough to make 4!

Here is what you need for the basic band
 -one pack of the widest balck elasic from walmart 1.97
-a pack of jean buttons from walmart 1.97
-if you want a piece of material to tuck into the gap some blue material.  ( I used some blue stretchy knit stuff I bought forever ago)

I cut a piece of elastic about 5.5'' long (you might want to round the corners so not pokey) and stuck the button in about 4.75'' ..

Then I folded the elastic and cut a little slit about .25'' for the button hole on the other side. (if you are better at sewing then me you could sew a button hole with your machine)

I then took a lighter and singed all the edges including the button hole I folded it to opposite direction of when I cut it and it worked perfect. so no fraying.

Then I cut a rectangle of fabric and trimmed it so it was narrower on the top and folded a flap over making sure it was big enough for the elastic to slip through then sewed it up.  (the fabric I use won't fray so I don't even need to hem which I don't care because that part will be tucked in but you most certainly could if you want a more finished look)

Then you slide the elastic band in like this..

the last thing to do is hook the button on the band through the button hole on your pants then you hook the button on your pants through the hole on the band and tuck the fabric in ...it will look like this.

Here is a pic with my shirt down.  sorry such bad quality.  It was in the basement bathroom lol

I am super excited to be back in my favorite pair of jeans and hopefully it helps a few of you mamas to be out there.  I am off to clean my house before my girls get home and make my grocery list :)  Have a good day.